This isn’t the Shakespeare you read about in school. TNT’s new TV series Will tells the untold story of the rebellious young bard (Laurie Davidson) after he arrives to London’s gritty, punk rock theater scene to pursue his passion. As revealed in an exclusive sneak peek of the premiere episode, Shakespeare wasn’t afraid of taking a few liberties. Watch the video above.
In the clip, Alice Burbage (The Visit’s Olivia DeJonge), the daughter of theater impresario James Burbage (Hell on Wheels’ Colm Meaney) and Shakespeare’s off-limits love interest, notices that the playwright’s writing hand is bandaged and offers to be his scribe.
Before they can get very far, one of the other members of the company, Baxter (Black Sails’ Tadhg Murphy), grabs the pages of the play and begins reading it aloud.
Tripping over one of the lines, he turns back to Shakespeare and criticizes his education. “‘Bedazzle’ is not a word. The word is ‘dazzle.’ Change it.”
Will argues that “bedazzle” flows better and the meaning of the word is clear, but Baxter, exasperated, tells him, “You can’t just make up words!”
“Well, someone must! Otherwise we’d still be grunting or speaking Latin,” Will fires back.
The two-episode premiere of Will airs Monday, July 10, at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.